Youth project covering city parks to run until Christmas
A partnership formed during lockdown to send out support to young people in Bath’s city parks has received vital funding.
Registered youth charity Youth Connect South West has responded to the needs of local communities across B&NES by delivering detached youth work sessions in areas where there is a concern for young people.
A key location for this work has been the Royal Crescent and the adjacent park areas. Youth Connect was first contacted by councillors Mark Elliott and Lucy Hodge, who were concerned about the gatherings on High Common in early June.
Apart from the risks around the potential transmission of Covid-19, the community was very worried about behaviour including substance and alcohol use.
This informal partnership between key councillors Andrew Fuse and Sue Craig, the police, DHI Project 28 and Youth Connect set about coordinating a response and making support available to young people.
To date, more than 30 sessions have been delivered in partnership between DHI Project 28 and Youth Connect, focusing on giving out Covid-19 information as well as offering a range of support to individual young people.
Barbara Mcphail, Bath team leader for Youth Connect, said: “It has been really interesting listening to young people and their worries.
“Most have been really receptive to us being there and we’ve even managed to support some young people to take more responsibility for their actions through supporting them to litter pick and tidy their rubbish.”
This project has been awarded funding from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund. This means that Youth Connect and DHI Project 28 can continue this work up until Christmas and are now able to be in these areas four times a week.
Cllr Mark Elliott said: “This project has been really important for supporting young people, as well as reassuring for the wider community, and I’m delighted that it has received funding so it can continue.”